


Your Reflection in the Mirror

by wolfish_willow



Category: Real Person Fiction, Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, First Time, Fluff, M/M, Rating: PG13, Soulmates, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-26
Updated: 2012-02-26
Packaged: 2017-10-31 18:51:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/347291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfish_willow/pseuds/wolfish_willow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's rare to see that person meant for you when you're still old enough to remember it, even rarer to be able to find them in a world full of so many people. But Jared's got a feeling this is his year.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Your Reflection in the Mirror

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Viridescence](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viridescence/gifts).



> Written for viridescence's fandom_stocking, originally posted [here](http://fandom-stocking.livejournal.com/249318.html?thread=4505830#t4505830).

"I'm gonna see him this year, Jen. I know it."

Jensen shuts his eyes against the bright glare of the computer screen in front of him, stilling his hand on the mouse. Counting in his head, he slowly opens them again at ten and squints at the digital painting he's been trying to focus on. With a steady breath he turns around, letting go of the mouse, to stare at his friend sprawled out across his bed. Jared's leg is bouncing up and down with the built up energy he so often carries around. "Dude, you said the same thing last year." 

Jared turns his head on the pillow, excited hazel eyes fixing on Jensen. "It'll happen, Jensen. I can _feel_ it." 

"I just don't want you to get your hopes up, Jay," Jensen tries quietly but Jared obviously isn't going to let his concerns ebb the excitement over the possibility of finally seeing his soul mate, the one person out there who's really perfect for him, in the mirror at 5:27pm the next day. 

"You worry too much." 

Jared rolls off the bed and pops up onto his feet in a move that forces Jensen to push back in his chair so that there's still some space between them. 

"You don't worry _enough_ ," he counters with a smirk, settling into the easy familiarity. His shoulders relax some and he smiles up at his friend when Jared scoffs. "We still on for lunch tomorrow, birthday boy?" 

"Yeah." Jared stretches long arms over his head and bends back, letting out a satisfied sigh at a _pop_ before straightening again. "Gotta go finish my paper, though. I refuse to have homework on my birthday." 

"Have fun with that." 

"I _will_ , just you wait and see." 

Jensen snorts but waves Jared off, turning back to the computer when the door shuts behind him. The smile gradually falls from his face and with a sigh Jensen tries to concentrate on his work again. 

It's not that he doesn't want Jared to find his soul mate. Not at all, even if there's that small – screaming – part of him that wants Jared for himself. But it's so rare to see that person in the mirror when they're old enough to remember. Even rarer to find them afterwards in a world so full of people. There's no guarantee they'll be on the same continent, let alone in the same city or state. And he doesn't want his friend to end up disappointed and alone, forever refusing to date because he just _knows_ that _this_ will be the year, every single year. 

Jensen saw his "soul mate" when he was four, remembers a hazy image of a baby sleeping. Its eyes were closed and he doesn't even know if the baby was a boy or a girl. All he can remember is a head full of chestnut hair and that the baby was sucking its thumb while it slept. And there's no guarantee Jared didn't see his soul mate when he was two or three and just can't remember it clearly. 

But there's nothing he can do to keep Jared from getting excited about it, hates the idea of taking that hope from his friend. So Jensen readjusts his glasses and gets to work on the final pieces for his class so he can get back to work on a personal project that's been nagging at the back of his mind for too long. 

***

Jared can't stay still. Everything in him is buzzing in electrified exhilaration. His stomach is flipping with equal parts anticipation for who he'll see and dread at the possibility he'll only see himself yet again.

His stomach is starting to growl because he hasn't eaten since lunch with Jensen, hasn't even managed a snack in between then and now because he's been too amped up and nervous. This is the year. It _has_ to be. He's twenty-two and finishing up his last year of college – for now; he's still unsure if he'll go for anything more than this degree – and it's the perfect time to find out who he's made for. Or at least what they look like. 

A glance at his watch, the new one Jensen gave to him at lunch that fits on his wrist just right unlike the one he'd been wearing for years with the leather band that always felt wrong and restrictive, tells him he's got a minute before he's _officially_ twenty-two. 

With a deep breath, Jared steps into the bathroom and stares at the mirror. 

***

Jensen walks into his bedroom and goes straight for the computer and his drawing tablet. The picture on the screen is the same as he left it before lunch with Jared – he gives himself a mental fist pump for coming up with a perfect gift if the dimpled grin bright enough to blind the sun Jared sent him was any indication. His memory of the little baby is hazy at best, but he'll never fully forget how his soul mate looked, no one ever does after they've seen them, even if they were too young to ever realize who it is they should be remembering.

There's a mop of brown curls and a button nose slightly scrunched in sleep on the screen and he works to finish the last of it. Hands are always difficult and he's never attempted to draw a baby's hands before, especially not the curled fist of a baby sucking its thumb, but the need to draw this has been bothering him for days and he's determined to get it right. And he's proud how realistic it looks, if nothing else. Almost like a picture someone had taken and he smiles softly, and a little pained that he'll never know who the baby grew up to be. 

It's getting darker outside and he's just finishing off some of the shading when Jared bounds into the room behind him with as much grace as ever – which is to say, none. 

"Jensen, I saw…" Jared talks right over his feeble attempt at cutting his friend off, voice booming in the small room but trailing off into a more uncertain, "Me?" 

"Just a second," Jensen mutters, unwilling to let even Jared disrupt his concentration right now when he's nearly finished. 

A quick glide of fingers across his computer's keyboard and the piece is saved, and he's just about to swivel around in the chair when Jared comes up behind him, bending at the waist and staring at the screen. 

"Did my mom send you that?" he asks tentatively, something like hope in his voice that has Jensen squinting up at him in confusion. 

"What?" 

Jared's eyes flick from the screen to Jensen's face, looking at him like he's crazy or a little slow. "The picture," he starts, shrugging a shoulder at the computer, "Did my mom e-mail it to you or something?" 

"What are you talking about?" 

Pushing his glasses further up his nose, Jensen tries to figure out what's going on here. Jared is making no sense – he should be used to that by now, but Jared is one person who will always manage to surprise him, Jensen's sure – and he's feeling a little slow himself. 

Finally Jared seems to look at the program Jensen is using, that it isn't Windows Photo Gallery, and lines crease his forehead, sharing the confusion Jensen's had since Jared opened his mouth. 

"Why did you draw me as a baby?" 

"That's not you, dude." 

Jensen's heart pounds in his chest and he feels a little like he's going crazy right now, especially when Jared sends him his 'you're being stupid' look and pulls out his phone. He clicks on the miniature keyboard – Jensen's more than a little surprised that Jared doesn't mash the keys with his massive thumbs. He opens his mouth to ask what the hell Jared is doing but his friend lifts a hand and cuts him off before he makes a sound. His throat is probably too dry for any sound to come out anyways. 

A minute later, the phone chirps and Jared nods before shoving the tiny screen in Jensen's face. When he backs up in the chair to focus, he feels his eyebrows turn down and flicks his eyes from the picture on Jared's phone to the one he drew. 

They're almost identical. 

"Wha - ?" he starts, but Jared cuts him off again. A dimpled grin stretches across his face and he bounces on the tips of his toes. 

"It's one of my mom's favorite pictures," he explains breathlessly. "You saw me when you were four. _Me_. I'm the thumb-sucker." 

"I…" His mouth opens and closes, throat clogging up with the hope that he can't seem to give voice to. 

Jared only smiles wider and leans in close enough that Jensen can see all the different shades of color in his eyes. "Guess who saw someone in the mirror today." 

Jensen hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until it rushes out of him. "Really?" 

"Yeah." 

He doesn't know which of them leans in first but before Jensen can blink they're kissing, lips slotting together like they've done it a million times before, like it's something _familiar_. It's the best kiss Jensen can remember sharing with someone, just the right amount of pressure. Jared's hand is warm where it rests against the side of his neck, thumb tickling the skin just under his jaw and he shivers, moans at the intensity he's feeling from such a small touch. Something he's experienced more than once, but never quite as amazing as it feels _now_. 

When they pull back, breathless and panting and still close enough to share breath, Jensen knows his own smile must give Jared's sun-blinding grin a run for its money. 

Jared leans in again, nips at Jensen's bottom lip playfully. His eyes are practically dancing, bright and smiling as he stares down at Jensen. "Now we know why we always felt _right_ together, huh?" His breath tickles over Jensen's kiss swollen lips, sends another shiver down his spine that Jensen feels echoed by Jared. 

"Yeah," he whispers, but he's had enough of talking for now. Curling his fingers into the collar of Jared's shirt, Jensen tugs him down until they're kissing again, pulling until his friend - _soul mate_ , his mind whispers, thinks, screams – loses his balance and topples into his lap. They laugh into each other's mouths and Jensen doesn't think he's ever been happier than he is right now. 

The way Jared kisses him, slow and soft and sweeter than the candy he eats so much of, assures him Jared feels exactly the same way. 

  
**END**   



End file.
